Jeremy Paxman Quotations

Watching TV is the most popular leisure activity in Britain. I find that very depressing.

One's teachers all belonged to that generation who were imperialists, and the whole narrative throughout my adolescence was of countries leaving the empire. I find it extraordinary that this purpose which drove how we viewed the world is now considered to be something that has no effect upon us.

It's incumbent on those of us who work with the media...to at least cut through some of the nonsense.

It's stupid to have a simple-minded view.

I have neither the learning nor the experience to know whether the doomsayers are right about the human causes of climate change. But I am willing to acknowledge that people who know a lot more than I do may be right when they claim that it is the consequence of our own behaviour. I assume that this is why the BBC?s coverage of the issue abandoned the pretence of impartiality long ago.

The cure for cynicism is simply to engage honestly.

I've always felt myself to be an outsider. I've always felt awkward.

The idea of a tax on the ownership of a television belongs in the 1950s. Why not tax people for owning a washing machine to fund the manufacture of Persil?

At last someone takes me seriously.

The English approach to ideas is not to kill them, but to let them die of neglect.

I'm afraid I tend to be thinking about things and not paying sufficient attention to one's posture, deportment and general cast of face.

The defining problem of contemporary television is trust: Can you believe what you see on television, does television treat people fairly, is it healthy for society?

[Cycling] is easily the quickest way around central London, faster than bus, Tube or taxi. You can predict precisely how long every journey will take, regardless of traffic jams, Tube strikes or leaves on the line. It provides excellent exercise. It does not pollute the atmosphere. It does not clog up the streets.

At work people are expected to be at the beck and call of employers all the time. You have blackberries and other things, and they just don't leave you alone. People have less time just to drop into an art gallery.

The promise of Western capitalism of ever rising rates of pay has turned out to be the cheque that bounced

I've spent my whole life being told I have a face like a horse. You are just what you are, aren't you?

It seems to me that the way to remove people's cynicism is, when asked a straight question, to give a straight answer.

I find it odd that people take me seriously.

Sharing holiday snaps on social media is an act of arrogant vanity.

Ones teachers all belonged to that generation who were imperialists, and the whole narrative throughout my adolescence was of countries leaving the empire. I find it extraordinary that this purpose which drove how we viewed the world is now considered to be something that has no effect upon us.

I hate the word 'sneering', I can't help the way my face looks.

I got fed up of listening to bollocks

Television bosses should stop insulting the public's intelligence by assuming we are all idiots.

Has there ever been a visitor to Ludlow who hasn't wished they lived there?

I voted against Gerald Nabarro in my first general election, but my defiance made no difference. If you had put a Conservative rosette on a mustachioed hamster, it would have been elected.

It would be unforgivable to use the role I have, such as it is, to inflict my incoherent, half-baked view of the world on people. That would be illegitimate and unacceptable and I should be fired.

I have not a clue why they sent it to me. As far as I know I have not got a reputation as a receiver of stolen goods.

I've always thought you have to live life looking forwards, not backwards. I've had no interest at all in who my ancestors are.

Scepticism is a necessary and vital part of the journalist's toolkit. But when scepticism becomes cynicism it can close off thought and block the search for truth.

It's not just politicians. Any spokesman for a vested interest is well schooled in how to say what it is they wish to say, which may bear no relation at all to what you've asked them.

The early bird may get the worm, but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.